ISLANDERS LOOK TO GO BEAR-HUNTING AS UCA VISITS CHAPMAN

Apr 23, 2009

The Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi baseball team returns to Chapman Field this
weekend as they host
Central Arkansas in a three-game series beginning Friday at 2 p.m.
Saturday's contest is at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Islanders
will be out to snap a three-game losing streak entering the series
with a 14-27 record and 6-15 mark in the Southland Conference. The
Bears are 17-21 overall with an 8-13 mark in the Southland
Conference. The two teams entered the league together prior to the
2007 baseball season and have met six times since. UCA leads the
series 3-2-1 with last year's final meeting at Chapman resulting in
a tie.

With 12 SLC
games remaining, the Islanders are entering must win territory as
they are three games out of the eighth and final spot for the
league tournament. The tournament will be held in Corpus Christi at
Whataburger Field on May 20-23. A&M-Corpus Christi sits two
games behind McNeese State, Nicholls State and Central Arkansas,
who is not eligible for the postseason, for eighth in the league.
Both McNeese and Nicholls won the season series with the Islanders,
who would need to finish a game ahead of both to move into the
eighth spot. SFA is a game ahead of the Islanders with seven
wins.

The Islanders
will send the trio of Brandon Orr, Roy Ferdin, and Brett Carnline
to the mound as starters. Orr is 1-5 on the season with a 7.02 ERA,
while Ferdin is 2-5 with a team-best 5.15 ERA. Carnline is the team
leader with three wins and has a 5.49 ERA. UCA will send Jeremy
Cloud, Reece Cross and Logan Ariola to the mound. Cloud leads the
SLC with 71-2/3 innings pitched and has 4-4 mark with a 4.40 ERA.
Cross is 2-3 with a 6.37 ERA, while Ariola 0-2 with a 7.85
mark.

Offensively,
Jeramie Marek has been the hottest Islander and enters the series
with a nine-game hitting streak. He has raised his average to a
team-best .326 during the streak just ahead of senior Martin
Parra's .325. Stephen Flora and Weston Montgomery are hitting .304
and .302 as the Islanders average .279 as a team.

The Bears
average .298 as a team with Tye Throneberry and Dillon Smith
averaging .368 and .355, respectively. Each has driven 32 runs.
Jonathan Yerby leads the team with 11 home runs with 10 in SLC
action to tie for third with Islander Trey Hernandez, who leads
TAMUCC. Yerby has 32 runs scored and 31 RBI.

Live audio will
be available for all three games with live stats as well on
www.goislanders.com.